WASHINGTON: U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the White House said.
“I did not ask for a cease-fire,” Biden told reporters as he left Washington for Camp David. He called the conversation long and private.
According to a White House statement, the president emphasized to Netanyahu “the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting.”
They also discussed the need to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Netanyahu’s office later said the prime minister “made clear that Israel would continue the war until achieving all its goals.”
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, which governs Gaza, after the militant group sent fighters rampaging into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israel.
Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others, also took about 240 people hostage.
More than 90 Palestinians were killed Saturday by Israeli airstrikes on two homes in Gaza, rescuers and hospital officials said. Residents of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, said the airstrikes coupled with shelling from tanks was unrelenting.
Military operations continue
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said late Friday that forces are broadening the ground offensive “to additional areas of the strip, with a focus on the south.”
Operations, he said, also were continuing in the northern half of Gaza, the initial focus of Israel’s ground offensive.
The army said it carried out airstrikes against Hamas fighters in several locations of Gaza City.
Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said Saturday that it had destroyed five Israeli tanks near Jabalia, killing and injuring their crews by using two undetonated missiles fired earlier by Israel.
(VOA)
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